Episode 570: The Offseason's First Emails
Date November 5, 2014 Summary Ben and Sam banter about Joe Maddon, Michael Cuddyer, and more then answer offseason-related listener emails. Topics * Jon Lester contract predictions * Value of draft picks attached to qualifying offers * All-bullpen pitching staff in September * Franchise winning percentages * Winning a trade Intro Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "Winterlong" Outro Car Talk sound clip Banter * Episode 496 follow-up: Sam rewatched Snowpiercer and got his questions about the classroom scene answered. * Michael Cuddyer & other qualifying offers * Terry Francona was negotiating an extension but claimed to not know how much he was currently making. * Joe Maddon said he keeps a card in his pocket during games that is "dripping with analytics". * Baseball comparisons for the AHL goalie knocking off the net. Email Questions * Joe: about [[Jon Lester] not needing to get a qualifying offer] "If that's the case how much more money/years do you he gets now that he doesn't have a draft pick tied to him? Do you see Lester getting more money than Scherzer or Shields?" * S.J.: "Could this work, a team leading their division calls up five pitchers on September 1st to give themselves a 17-man pitching staff for September. That same day they decide that their best 9 pitchers, regardless of what role they've been in until now, are their playoff pitchers, and they start using those 9 pitchers together as a group for 1 inning each. This group of 9 pitchers could now work this way for the whole month of September on a schedule that kind of mirrors a typical October playoff schedule. Two days on, one day off, two days on, three days off and at least twice in September you might want to make them work at least three days in a row. For other September days when you have a game and don't want to use this group of 9 playoff pitchers you would have to use some combination of the other 8 pitchers on your staff. Would it work? Will it ever happen?" * Eric: "There's an old adage that whoever gets the best player in a trade wins the trade. Assuming we're sure who is in fact the best player, how true do you think this statement is?" Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to look up franchise winning percentages since 1926. * The New York Yankees have a .583 winning percentage since 1926, the St. Louis Cardinals are at .543. * There are 10 franchises that have winning records, the other 20 have losing records. * Since this year when the Angels got to above .500 as a franchise, no expansion team had a winning record. * The Yankees could lose every game for almost 20 years in a row and still be over .500 as a franchise. Notes * Michael Cuddyer has outhit Nelson Cruz over the past several years. * Sam says dropping an infield fly with runners on is the baseball version of what the AHL goalie did. It is something that is ordinarily bad for you but can be turned into an advantage. * Neither Ben nor Sam think that Jon Lester will get as much as Max Scherzer. * Since Branch Rickey took over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1926, the Cardinals have had fewer losing seasons than the Mariners. The Washington Nationals have more 90 loss seasons than the Cardinals do since 1926. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 570: The Offseason's First Emails * Goalie David Leggio knocks off net against a 2-0 video Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes